The following morning, Frank and Joe were back at Glenn’s house. They had spent the previous night at the hospital, and then at the sheriff’s office.  

While at the hospital, Frank had his ribs taped. Four of his ribs were broken. He was moving stiffly. At the sheriff’s office, he filled the officers in with Nancy’s help. When they finally returned to the house, Glenn, Kevin, Lisa and Jennifer were waiting for them. Frank and Joe promised to fill them in the next morning on all the details, but assured them that the cattle thieves had been caught.  

It was now late morning as Frank made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He had trouble sleeping with his broken ribs. But exhaustion had finally won out and he had drifted into dreamland.  

As he entered the kitchen, he saw the others were seated at the table. Jennifer said, “Good morning, Frank.”  

Frank hid his surprise. “Morning.”  

He slowly sat down and Lisa said, “Your ribs must hurt.”  

“Just a little,” Frank admitted.  

Glenn set his coffee cup down. He asked, “Are you two ready to explain what’s going on?”  

“Yeah,” Frank said.  

At that moment, there was a knock on the kitchen door. Jennifer went to the door and pulled it open. Glenn turned in his seat. Frank saw Nancy standing at the door. Stan was also there. But they weren’t alone.  

Jennifer ushered them into the kitchen as Glen got to his feet. He asked, “What are you doing here, William?”  

Nancy spoke up. “I asked him to come with me.”  

“And I asked Nancy to come,” Frank said. “We only wanted to explain this once.”  

“Let’s go on the porch,” Glenn suggested. “There’s more room out there.”  

They all went out on the porch. William and Becky sat on the swing. Glenn sat in the chair while Jennifer, Lisa, Kevin and Stan leaned against the railing.  

“All three of us agreed on this meeting,” Nancy said. “The person stealing the cattle has been caught.”  

“Who was it?” William asked.  

“It was Dave,” Nancy answered.  

“Who’s Dave?” Glenn asked.  

“Dave worked on William’s ranch,” Nancy said.  

“He took cattle from both ranches,” Frank said.  

He went on to explain with Joe and Nancy’s help how Dave stole the cattle and sold them for money. They told how Dave was working with two other men.  

“Dave confessed that he needed money,” Nancy said. “He knew the cattle weren’t watched 24 hours a day. He lured them to the fence where he had a trailer waiting in the woods. He cut the fence back and took the cattle. He then sold the cattle.”  

“He should pay,” Glenn said. “The cattle are worth a lot of money.”  

“I can’t believe he did this to me,” William said. “I thought he was honest.”  

“He’s with the sheriff now,” Joe said. “No more cattle will be stolen from either ranch.”  

“Good,” Glenn said.  

“Now you can stop blaming William,” Jennifer said.  

Glen stared back at her.  

“And you can stop blaming Glenn,” Stan said.  

William glared at Stan.  

Jennifer continued. “The two of you can keep fighting.” She looked at Lisa and Kevin, and then back at Glenn and William. “But we’re not going to be put in the middle anymore. You two were good friends before Mom was killed.”  

“That’s right,” Kevin and Lisa said in unison.  

“Mom’s death wasn’t William’s fault. It was an accident.” Jennifer moved over to Glenn. She kneeled in front of him. “Mom wouldn’t want you two to fight.”  

Glenn looked at Jennifer, and then at Kevin and Lisa. He took Jennifer’s hand in his. He said, “I’ll try not to drag you into the fight again. There won’t be anymore fighting.”  

Glenn looked at William. “I’m sorry, William.”  

“I’m sorry, too,” William said.  

Becky looked at Frank, Joe and Nancy. She said, “Thank you for what you’ve done. You three have stopped their fighting. Thank you.”  

Glenn looked at the three of them. “We owe you a lot.”  

“You don’t owe us anything,” Nancy said and Frank and Joe agreed.  

“You do deserve a reward,” Lisa said moving over to Frank. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. She moved to Joe and gave him a long kiss.  

Nancy and Frank looked at one another with wide eyes. They then looked at Joe.  

Glenn cleared his throat. “Lisa, you can’t keep Joe.”  

Lisa pulled away from Joe, who looked at the ground, a deep blush filling his face. Jennifer, Kevin and Stan laughed. Lisa looked embarrassed and Joe avoided looking at anyone.  

“This case is solved,” Glenn said. “I’m grateful for all your help.”  

“We were glad to help,” Frank said.  

Frank knew things had worked out. They had brought two friends back together. The missing cattle were located. And Joe had met another girl. He knew it was just another case for them.

 

-The End-

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.